THE LINES BETWEEN US

Stories, letters, and journals connect the tumultuous lives of several women in a single family over three centuries in this debut novel.

In a prologue set in 2014, Rachel Pearson Strand reflects on her mother’s enigmatic last words: “I am like Ana,” she says. “I have failed Juliana.” Those names, unfamiliar to Rachel, act as a springboard for D’Harlingue’s debut historical novel, which interweaves the lives of characters over multiple generations. In the first part, set in 1661 Madrid, Ana grieves her physician husband, Emilio Cardero Diaz, and helps her brother, also widowed, raise his 16-year-old daughter, Juliana, who’s never been told the truth about her mother’s death. The story unfolds in short, alternating chapters, each focusing on a different character, with many in diary or letter form. Ana discovers her late husband’s journal, which reveals his long-held desire to travel to the New World, and then finds Juliana’s diary, which she kept after she fled her childhood home. Her father had killed a man who’d raped her but then aimed to kill Juliana, as well, because he couldn’t bear the loss of “honor.” The book’s second part shifts to 1992, when Rachel, who’s pregnant, reveals to her dying mother that she’s about to have a girl. Rachel, who teaches Spanish at a university, later finds a packet of documents that continue Juliana’s story, including her escape to Mexico City and her life in a convent, which also shelters her daughter. D’Harlingue’s prose is languid and sure throughout this novel and especially effective at threading in intriguing details of 17th-century Spain and Mexico City, including the role of education in the lives of women. Ana, Juliana, and Rachel are all distinct characters, with Juliana’s journey the most compelling. However, the episodic, often epistolary plot structure somewhat slackens the tension and drama surrounding Juliana’s courageous life choices. The inclusion of each generation makes for a crowded closing section, as well. Nevertheless, the rhythms of these women’s lives are sure to resonate with readers.

An ambitious, engaging novel that explores the power of finding personal connection to the past.